Numerical method for wave equation

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semc
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Hi, I am trying to plot a function subjected to a nonlinear wave equation. One of the method I found for solving the nonlinear Schrödinger equation is the split step Fourier method. However I noticed that this method only works for a specific form of PDE where the equation has an analytic solution for both the linear and nonlinear part. So how do I solve numerically any arbitrary PDE? Specifically, my PDE is

[itex]\partial_zE(r_⊥,z,\tau)-∇^2_⊥\int^{\tau}_{-\infty}d\tau 'E(r_⊥,z,\tau ')=\int^{\tau}_{-\infty}d\tau '\omega^2(r_⊥,z,\tau ')-\frac{\partial_{\tau}n(r_⊥,z,\tau)}{E(r_⊥,z,\tau)}[/itex]

and I want to solve for the evolution of E. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
on Phys.org
Boundary conditions, please.
 
From my experience with PDE, you only need boundary conditions when solving for specific solutions. I am looking for a way to solve the PDE numerically. Would it be possible to give me the general method? For example you can [itex]\bf{explain}[/itex] the split step Fourier method without knowing the boundary conditions?